This invention relates to electrical cables, and to coupling arrangements for use therewith.
In the transmission of information by electrical cable, especially in such fields as industrial telemetry and cable-television, it is usual to connect a number of terminals to a common or shared main cable by providing an appropriate number of fixed connectors spaced apart along the main cable. It is expected that in the future such systems will be used extensively for the transmission of information between offices. In order to enable branch line connections to be made to a common or shared main cable which is typically a coaxial cable, after installation of the cable, various couplings have been proposed, usually involving cutting an outer cover of the cable and using either direct connection or inductive coupling to the inner conductor. This gives rise to the problem that a relatively complex procedure is needed to make a connection between a branch line cable and a main cable, and that if a branch line is no longer needed and is disconnected, there is a break in the outer conductor and usually also in the intermediate insulator of the cable. This in turn can give rise to interference during coupling, and disconnection, and to poor reliability.